Monitor lizard catches huge Arapaima fish at Botanic Gardens then feasts on it

SINGAPORE: A TikToker called it “DRAMA AT BOTANIC GARDENS” but it wasn’t the human kind with slaps, tears, and a love triangle or two.

Instead, it was the more gruesome variety, involving a Monitor lizard killing a very big arapaima fish.

The “drama” was caught on camera by TikToker Brie Benfell, who’s made Singapore her home and who calls herself “Your one and only, ‘Singmoh’” on her TikTok bio.

“OMG #fyp #botanicgardenssingapore #botanicgardens #exploresg##sgdrama #nature,” she wrote in the caption of her Jan 16 (Monday) video, which has since been viewed 900,000 times.

@briebenfell

OMG #fyp #botanicgardenssingapore #botanicgardens #exploresg#sgdrama #nature

♬ original sound – Brie Benfell – Brie Benfell

“What is happening in the Botanic Gardens right now, oh my gosh,” she writes at the beginning of the video.

In it, a huge fish can be seen lying on its side with a smallish Monitor lizard beside it.

Ms Benfell spoke to a Botanic Gardens staff, who said that the fish was around 15 years old. He added that he didn’t know what was wrong with the fish, but guessed that it could already have been sick.

The staffer also told the TikToker that the Monitor lizard dragged the arapaima fish out of the water.

“Awww, and now the lizard’s going to eat it,” the TikToker says, adding, “There we go. Now we have an explanation.”

And as the lizard began to eat the fish, Ms Benfell can be heard saying that it was “time to go now.”

Commenters on the video remarked on how big the fish was.

“Literally the biggest fish I’ve ever seen in my life,” the TikToker agreed. She also said that she had to leave when another lizard came along, adding that the reptiles got territorial, so she left.

One commenter remarked that the arapaima is the largest freshwater fish in the world.

  A knowledgeable TikTok user appeared to agree with the staffer’s assessment that something must have been wrong with the fish.

Others were surprised to see an arapaima there at all.

“You’re telling me this spectacle happened at Botanic Gardens??? For free????,” wrote one shocked commenter.

/TISG

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